West Palm Beach finally gets serious about craft beer

The 6,000-square-foot West Palm Brewery, which will be one part downtown brewpub and one part Napa-style wine cellar, joins Ookapow Brewing Company, the city's first brewery that opened in late August.

The 6,000-square-foot West Palm Brewery, which will be one part downtown brewpub and one part Napa-style wine cellar, joins Ookapow Brewing Company, the city's first brewery that opened in late August.

John Pankauski is devoted to the grape. But when he faced a decision two years ago whether to open a brewpub in West Palm Beach or a 67-acre vineyard in California, he devoted himself to beer.

“It takes five years before a vineyard is in full production. That’s intimidating. To brew beer, it takes two to three weeks. We went with beer,” says Pankauski, owner of the new West Palm Brewery and Wine Vault. “But I couldn’t give up on wine.”

Which is why his 7,000-square-foot brewpub and wine cellar, located off Dixie Highway two blocks from the city’s posh waterfront and bustling Clematis Street, will showcase both wine and beer when it opens to the public on Thursday, Dec. 21.

The rapid growth in West Palm Beach happened almost by accident, brewers say. Fran Andrewlevich says his Steam Horse (1500 Elizabeth Ave.) will be among the first arrivals in the city’s rising foodie district, a warren of warehouses east of I-95 and south of Okeechobee Boulevard. When it opens in February, the 6,300-square-foot brewery will share the neighborhood with yoga studios and a food hall, Grandview Public Market.

“At first, I was like, ‘I‘m not willing to go down to West Palm,’ ” says Andrewlevich, who also operates Twisted Trunk Brewing in Palm Beach Gardens and Tequesta Brewing Company in Tequesta. “I didn’t see it at first, but then it clicked on me: The energy down in this district is insane. We’re going to feed off each other’s business. I signed the lease.”

Joel Kodner / Courtesy

The starting lineup of craft beers at the new West Palm Brewery and Wine Vault, which plans to open Dec. 21 in West Palm Beach.

The starting lineup of craft beers at the new West Palm Brewery and Wine Vault, which plans to open Dec. 21 in West Palm Beach. (Joel Kodner / Courtesy)

“This warehouse district is a welcome fit,” Singletary says. “The landlord was saying, ‘You’re exactly the kind of tenant we’re looking for here.’ It’s by pure accident this happened, because honestly, we had no idea this district was transforming. It’s the right place, right time.”

West Palm Beach is ripe for a craft-beer explosion, Pankauski agrees. The focus of his West Palm Brewery will be sophistication, offering a Neapolitan-style pizza bar inside its sit-down Intracoastal Kitchen, along with a cellar boasting 20 Napa Valley-style red and white wines. But the 3,500-square-foot taproom will mainly tout craft beer, says Pankauski, by day a West Palm Beach probate litigation attorney.

In August, Pankauski hired brewmaster Joel Kodner to program West Palm Brewery’s starting lineup of brews, which will include Evernia Saison, a Belgian-style brew punched with notes of stone fruit; Palm Beach Porter, infused with chocolate, coffee and toffee flavors; B4 Blonde, a nonbitter blond ale; Metermaid IPA, with notes of grapefruit and tangerine; and Five Six One Hefeweizen, a German-style wheat beer fortified with banana and clove flavors.

West Palm Brewery, unlike itsSouth Florida competitors, will not distribute its beers, and its lack of canning and bottling lines frees up more time for small-batch beer experimentation, Kodner says.

“We’re approaching 6,000 breweries in America now, so it’s really a fight to get your brewery’s beer on store shelves,” says Kodner, who adds that West Palm Brewery can produce up to 330 gallons of beer per brewing cycle at once. “The thing for me is to keep it small and local, and have the quality be on freshness.”

Pankauski says the brewpub will also offer a variety of Pinot Noirs, Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons from his private wine label, Pankauski Cellars.

A long, stainless-steel countertop frames the brewery’s wood-burning pizza oven, a mosaic-blue brick dome that can pump out well-done, thin-crust pies in 80 seconds. Used wine barrels converted into tables fill the farmhouse-reminiscent taproom, where customers can pair beer and wine with a menu of pub fare, including salad, meatball sliders, wood-fired wings and paninis.

Pankauski says the brewery will offer daily and by-appointment tours of the brewhouse, and a weekday happy hour from 4 to 7 p.m.

West Palm Brewery and Wine Vault will open to the public 4 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 21, at 332 Evernia St. Hours of operation will be 4-11 p.m. Monday-Friday, noon-11 p.m. Saturday and noon-10 p.m. Sunday. Call 561-514-0900 or go to WestPalmBeer.com.

For a weekly pint of news about bar openings and other drinking events, sign up for the Shot Caller newsletter, delivered to your inbox free every Thursday.

CAPTION

Todd Zimmer of Billy Jack's Shack in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea talks about his restaurant's concept.

Todd Zimmer of Billy Jack's Shack in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea talks about his restaurant's concept.

CAPTION

Todd Zimmer of Billy Jack's Shack in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea talks about his restaurant's concept.

Todd Zimmer of Billy Jack's Shack in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea talks about his restaurant's concept.

CAPTION

Gabriella Katia is the mother of instagram famous marmosets Diddy and Yeti Kong.

Gabriella Katia is the mother of instagram famous marmosets Diddy and Yeti Kong.

CAPTION

Coleslaw, it's not just a side dish here. Recipe inside!

Coleslaw, it's not just a side dish here. Recipe inside!

CAPTION

Erika Moon, a French-born, Miami Beach-based burlesque performer, offers an in-depth look at the world of avante-garde burlesque before her upcoming show at the Fillmore Miami Beach.

Erika Moon, a French-born, Miami Beach-based burlesque performer, offers an in-depth look at the world of avante-garde burlesque before her upcoming show at the Fillmore Miami Beach.